Golden Delights and Emerald Buddhas - The Grand Pa
Trip Start
Oct 23, 2009
1
9
13
Trip End
Nov 04, 2009
Bangkok,
Thailand
Saturday, October 31, 2009
After arriving in Bangkok, we hot-footed over to the Grand Palace.
The Grand Palace is Closed Scam - This scam can happen near any tourist attraction but still happens a lot outside the Grand Palace. As you approach, someone will tell you that the palace is closed for various reasons. Ignore them as you will end up in either agem store or a tailor shop. Yup you guessed it we fell for the scam lol. they told us the monks were praying and we would have to come back at 1pm but in the mean time they could take us to another palace for 40 baht return which they did but insisted on the gem shop etc as well.
People had to get what they were wearing checked out by officials to
see if it was appropriate. No shorts, no tank tops, no major skin
showing. It is a holy place after all. If what you were wearing was not
appropriate, you could rent sarongs and such.
The Grand Palace is a complex of buildings in Bangkok, Thailand and the
official residence of the king of Thailand from the 18th century to the
mid-20th century - the official royal residence to Chitralada Palace.
Construction of the palace complex began in 1782, during the reign of
Rama I.
Having read in the book 'Places to see before you
Die' that this is one of the top places to visit in the world then I
was definitely not going to miss it whilst in Bangkok. And Wow, Wow and
WOW - it proved to be a amazing day out. Accompanied by my friend Jess we wandered around the ornate buildings with our jaws
dropping at the sheer scale and beauty of the place, and glowing yellow
in the reflected light from all the gold buildings.
The Grand
Palace is home to the Emerald Green Buddha.It is not known for sure
when the Emerald Buddha was carved but is estimated at the fifteenth
century or where is originated from.
"According to reliable
chronicles, lightning struck a Chedi in Chiangrai province of Northern
Thailand in 1434 A.D.and a Buddha statue made of stucco was found
inside. The
Emerald Green Buddha
abbot
of the temple noticed that the stucco on the nose had flaked off and
the image inside was a green color. He then removed the stucco covering
and found the Emerald Buddha which is in reality made of green jade.
Two
seasonal costumes were made for the Emerald Buddha by King Rama I, one
for the summer season and one for the rainy season. King Rama III
(1824-1851) had another costume made for the winter season. The
ceremonial changing of the costumes takes place three time a year and
is done by his Majesty the King." (Source:
http://www.bangkokmag.infothai.com/emeraldhistory.htm)
The
Buddha is surprisingly small compared to those found in other temples
around Bangkok but my no means insignificant on an elaborate gold
raised platform it is a commanding scene to behold. And the air is full
of reverence of this little statue as Monks and Thai's pray and worship
at his base.
It would be easily possible to wander around the
elaborate halls and buildings all day but we only had a few hours and
it felt like a whistle stop tour that did not give justice to the
magnificence of this place.
Words will never
Gateways to a Gold Heaven
be
sufficient to describe this place and so I will let the pictures do the
talking and say if you are anywhere near Bangkok then go there! It is
definitely a place to see before you die.
